Synthesis work
Synthesis work in TRACER is mainly being initiated during synthesis workshops. According to the TRACER curriculum annual, 1-3 week long synthesis workshops are planned, where doctoral researchers as well as mentors get together to work on currently relevant research questions going beyond single PhD projects. The synthesis work should strengthen existing networks and promote interdisciplinary thinking. Products of the synthesis work can be publications, peer-to-peer groups on specific research questions or joint conference contributions.
The synthesis workshop itself can be used to create new ideas or to develop specific, already existing research questions. In most cases are synthesis workshops followed by individual group meetings and sometimes 1 to 2 follow-up workshops to finalize analyses and to advance collaborative publications.
The first TRACER synthesis workshop took place between 2.nd and 11.th of November 2020 in a virtual format. The follow-up workshop was integrated with the TRACER General Assembly 2021 from 4.th to 8.th of October 2021 and individual group meetings took place between November 2020 and August 2022. During the 1st synthesis workshop, 5 synthesis topics were kicked off:
- Suspended sediment export
- Monitoring and modelling peer-to-peer group
- CNP patterns at catchment scale
- Ecosystem metabolism
- Trajectories of agriculture non-point pollution
The second TRACER synthesis workshop took place between 29.th of August and 2.nd of September 2022 in Ottersleben, Germany. During the 2nd synthesis workshop, 2 new topics were kicked off:
- Global anthropogenic impacts on macronutrient ratios in freshwaters
- The zero pollution ambition for river eutrophication